A new bill signed into law Wednesday by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) protects Confederate monuments in the state even as other states have started to do away with them.

The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 disallows removing or renaming any memorial streets or buildings on public property that have been in place for 40 or more years. Those monuments include an obelisk dedicated to Confederate soldiers in Birminghams Linn Park, named after Confederate captain Charles Linn; an obelisk for a fallen Confederate in Anniston; and the Alabama Confederate Monument , which sits on the grounds of the state Capitol in downtown Montgomery.